Artists Raymond Leech

Raymond's figurative works include seascapes and evocative dance scenes, depicting movement, rhythm and romance. His works are mainly oils on canvas and board.

Raymond was influenced to take up an artistic career by his father, who taught him to draw. In particular, he was also inspired by the art, prints and posters of the Newlyn School, the French impressionists, Degas, Renoir and Toulouse Lautrec.

Raymond was born in Great Yarmouth in 1949 and still lives in East Anglia.

From 1965 1970 he studied fine art and graphics at Great Yarmouth College of Art. Originally he made his living in graphic design, but demand for his original art grew so he eventually made the decision to take up painting full time. He works in oil, watercolour and pastel and his motivation as an artist is best illustrated by his affection for the figure work of the Cornish Newlyn School of artists, which at the turn of the twentieth century included Stanhope Forbes and Dame Laura Knight. He admires their work because it provided 'a breath of fresh air' and Raymond believes that a successful painting is not just a picture, but one that captures the air around the subject and the atmosphere as well.

Raymond is a member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists the Guild of Norwich Painters and the East Anglian Group of Marine Artists. He has won numerous awards, and has been a finalist in the Singer Friedlander Watercolour Competition, finalist and eventual prize winner in Not The Turner Prize .

His original work has been exhibited throughout the UK, the USA, London and also held in private collections in Dubai, Spain, New Zealand, France, South Africa, United Kingdom, America and Oman, the Sultan of Oman being just one of his many patrons.